Consumers would pay more for smart-mobility services

Consumers are ready to embrace smart mobility and are willing to pay for it, according to a global study.

Management consulting firm Oliver Wyman surveyed 7,500 consumers in Europe, China and the United States and found that the majority are ready to change their preferred mode of transportation and pay more for efficient, seamless and personalised travel.

The first elements of smart mobility are already here in the form of apps for ride sharing, journey planning and finding a parking space. But within just a few years, the same kind of platforms will give people access to driverless cars on demand and adjust the flow of city traffic based on real-time data feeds, according to Joris D’Incà, Patrick Lortie and Anne Pruvot from Oliver Wyman’s global transportation practice, in an article for Forbes.

Digital platforms will also be able to manage the travel experience from end-to-end and allow consumers to plan, book and pay for their trips in one place — even if several providers are required to complete the journey.

In the survey, 84% of respondents said they were willing to pay an additional fee to use integrated smart-mobility solutions. That includes 89% of millennials and Generation Z travellers and 75% of senior travellers. Commuters were prepared to pay an average of 4.1% above their monthly commuting cost for multimodal, door-to-door journey planning and 2.9% more for real-time travel information and rerouting to avoid delays.

And it’s not just for short trips: consumers would pay on average 3.3% more, and as much as 5.8% more, for multimodal, door-to-door journey planning for longer journeys of 60 miles or more, and 2.4% more on average for real-time information and rerouting.

While smart mobility may not eliminate all travel delays and congestion, a transformation in travel is inevitable, the authors say.

“The challenge for travellers and travel providers alike will be keeping up with the ever-shifting landscape of transportation and technology options reshaping long-distance and local travel,” they conclude.